The Longest Night, the Longest Day

Why are there vacations from school when there are no vacations from life, especially early-adolescence? Early-adolescence even sucks the joy and/or relaxation out of summer vacation. So you combat it by taking on projects, and what happens? You're lucky if they only turn out to be a 50% disaster! Your relatives get on your nerves, your friends seem to be slipping away (but your sworn enemy seems to be everywhere--that's your OTHER sworn enemy, not the one in the mirror),and there's still a month (4 weeks, 28-30 days, whatever you want to call it) until school starts again. Take comfort in your surroundings, especially if you live near a nice lake where you can watch graceful swans. But suppose you go see them with somebody who is even more fascinated with them than you are, somebody you have to drag away when it starts getting dark and late. Somebody who HAS to leave when you leave because he wouldn't get home by himself. But in the dead of night, while you're experiencing a temporary reprieve from your so-called life, what if this person woke up, got up, and tried to get back to the lake? This is the event that transforms at least one day in the life of 14-year-old Sara Godfrey. SUMMER is a Newbery winner; it only takes one read to see why, but I recommend picking it up whenever, no matter what your age, you get that "moody 14-year-old" feeling.